All character and thematic elements belong to Bandai Entertainment and
Sunrise, Inc.
All right, this one, after a long slumber, is a doozy of a comeback. I got a bunch of the peripheral characters, except for Corso, who's my invention, and of course, loveable Ayumo. Enjoy, kids. And review or be damned to another long slumber.
Endgame 13
"Everybody ready for fight night?" Spike asked in a haze of muttering smoke. He was dressed up, for Spike, who never did completely relinquish his Martian gutterpunk look. He had on a black trenchcoat, a suit underneath, and a scarf. His right-hand glove had all the smoking fingers cut out, though. Vicious had a beige overcoat and a gray suit. Julia was still in her bathroom. For a moment, Spike wondered why they always ended up at Julia's, whether it was after a mission or before they went out. Then he growled, under his breath, "Women," while staring at the bathroom door.
"Yeah," Vicious drawled. He was walking a coin down his hand. "Aren't they wonderful?"
"You talking about me?" Julia said, leaning against the bathroom doorframe. "You better not be talking about me." Vicious smiled at her. She was wearing an indigo dress with a slit that ran high enough for him to be sure she'd foregone the underwear that night.
Spike whistled rudely and Julia flipped him off. Vicious pulled her coat from the rack and held it for her to slip on. She frowned a little, then slipped her arms into the waiting coat. Vicious let his arms rest around her for a moment and whispered into her ear, "You look good." She turned around and restrained the urge to kiss him. He cupped her chin in his hand and brushed his thumb across her lower lip. Julia closed her eyes, forgetting Spike momentarily, until he started to make gagging noises.
"Oh, that's it," she huffed. "We need to get him a woman."
"Yeah, and while we're at it we should get Vicious one too," he replied drily. Julia pinched him. "Ow," Spike complained.
"Jesus," Vicious said and opened the door. "Can we go before you start giving each other noogies?"
The fight was being held at the Ares Stadium. It consisted a coliseum surrounding a circular patch of white sand where the contestants always fought. The headliner fight was between Ayumo, an expert in hand-to-hand combat, and Corso, a recruit recommended by Shin and Lin, brothers who Spike and Vicious knew but Julia didn't. Julia felt a bit snubbed for not being invited to fight. After all, she'd started off in hand-to-hand combat and she had so little of it these days. But Vicious said the recruit deserved a fighting chance, which made her smile.
The opening act was a Liksa fight. A Liksa was a liquid technology with holographic artificial consciousness, that had originated in Mars. As soon as you cut it apart, you had two separate animals. The more you divided it, the more there were. It had happened so often that Liksa now ran on the streets as common as dogs. The only way to destroy it was to cut it into so many pieces that they no longer had enough intelligence to fight. The only way to have a finite fight between two Liksas was to get some really small strays and starve them of electricity, which was their nourishment and also their intelligence. If one of the technological beasts managed to siphon off enough of the other's energy, or absorb enough parts of the other, it would eventually grow bright enough to enclose it, become a sieve like form, and squeeze it into death by a thousand pieces.
Liksa fights bored Julia. Her eyes glazed almost immediately. It was such a predictable fight, so mathematical and boring. There was no soul to it. It took her a moment to notice Spike's hand waving in front of her face.
"Mars to Julia," he was saying.
She shook her head. "What? Did something interesting happen?" She looked over at Vicious, who was watching the Liksa intently.
"You looked hypnotized," he said.
"Yeah, by boredom," she replied.
"Liksa fights are for nerds," he agreed.
She gestured to Vicious. "How can he like this?" she whispered into his ear.
"He likes the inevitable domination of power," Spike whispered back. "Let's get a drink, huh?"
They disembarked from their place in the balcony. Julia nodded at Mao as she passed him. Vicious didn't even notice them leave.
Shin was standing by the bar and Spike changed his course through the crowd. Julia asked him under his breath what he wanted to drink and walked on once he told her. He stopped and appraised Shin. He was one of the young hotshots who refused to tuck in his clothes or conform to the superficial habits of Red Dragon men. It marked him as outside of the powerful circle, which was as good as often as it was not.
"Been a long time," Spike drawled, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. "How did the recruiting session go?"
"We only got one good one. You wouldn't guess it to look at him, but he's been heavily decorated after just one year in warfare." Shin gestured past him and Spike turned to see an overgrown boy with hair not unlike Julia's and lips so red he could mark their color from across the room. He was standing on a pedastle next to Ayumo, serenely staring forward.
"You can never tell by the body," Spike said.
"True enough." Shin pulled out his own cigarette and lit it. "So me and Lin take off for a couple months and you and Vicious go take down an empire?"
"It's Vicious's empire anyway," Spike replied.
"Don't let Mao hear you say that," Shin grinned. He tried to pull his hair behind one ear but it fell messily over his forehead. "You know he doesn't trust Vicious."
"You never did either," Spike said without meeting Shin's eyes.
"Would you want your kid brother idolizing someone like that?" Shin countered. "Vicious is alright, I just don't want Lin imitating his tactics. It's bound to get him killed."
Spike nodded. "I didn't have anything to do with killing Vicious's father anyway. That was Julia."
Shin whistled and turned around to see where Julia had gone. "Yeah, Julia. Only woman who can make you fall in love with her by kicking your ass."
"Yeah, you'd know," Spike said, wondering how badly Shin had been beaten by her when they'd fought. He saw the gold spill of hair in the crowd marking her return. She handed Spike a drink and fixed her eyes somewhere past him, sipping her drink and ignoring Shin.
"Julia, you remember Shin-"
"It's always red," she muttered.
Spike turned to see where she was looking. The twin glint of red glass showed a pair of eye-tasers somewhere on the second level. They would shoot an invisible laser through wherever the eyes focused.
"They're aimed at the recruit," she said.
Shin had caught the eye-taser's by now as well. "What should we do?"
"I'll go to the second floor," Julia said. "It's near the bathrooom, so it won't be strange." Spike felt the slightest movement in his jacket pocket as Julia reached inside I for his lighter. He thought she wouldn't make a bad pickpocket, as he had once been. Julia turned to him. "I'll light this three times when I've got him in sight."
"Then we both shoot," Spike finished, and she nodded with a slight smile quirking her lips.
"A regular mind reader," she said, and disappeared into the crowd.
Spike turned to Shin. "Tell me when she reaches the second floor," he instructed. "It'll look more natural for you to be looking up there."
Lin agreed and took a drag from his cigarette. "Is it true what they say?"
"I don't know. What do they say?"
"They say she's Vicious's woman."
Spike didn't answer, but it was enough for Shin.
"She's got the right eyes for it," Shin said. "Cold as steel." After a moment he said, "She's there," and Spike turned to look. The light came. Once, twice, a third, and he drew his gun, firing a shot at the perfect angle. Another shot came from the second level, and he knew Julia was making sure the would-be assassin was dead. The crowd became a tumult, and he heard a few shrieks coming from the women that had been invited.
"Get Mao," Spike said, and ran against the flow of the crowd to the second floor. By the time he wrestled his way to the top the level was nearly empty. Julia was standing over the assassin, her back turned to him. She had a drink in one hand and a gun in the other. As Spike drew closer he noticed a disabling shot had disengaged the eye-taser.
"He was one of us," Julia said, and Spike noticed the uniform.
"Why'd you give me the signal to shoot, then? He should have been questioned."
"Because when he saw me he said I was next. He said he knew, and then I gave the signal to shoot."
"He knew?"
"Yes," she said, and turned to Spike. Her face was resolute. "He's an intelligence man. Might be he's not the only one who knows, and I'm not the only one he knows about. I'm going to tell Vicious tonight. I won't tell him about you but he might know soon. You should be ready."
"Who the hell are you to make a decision like that?"
"I'm free."
She started to walk past Spike and he grabbed her arm. "You're a lot of things Julia, but you're sure as hell not free. You think Vicious is going to let you do as you please? Did you think you two would just run off together and live happily ever after?"
"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I was thinking just that."
"You two always seem to be in the middle of these sorts of things," Mao said from behind them.
Julia turned to him. "You should be thankful. No one else seems to notice when the guy next to them is trying to assassinate somebody."
"And who was he trying to assassinate?" Mao asked.
Julia pointed to Corso downstairs, who remained oblivious to the circumstances. "That boy."
Mao bent to the crumpled figure and took off the ruined eye-tazer goggles. "And how should we know?" he asked, "With these broken and unable to provide a recording of this man's sight. He was one of ours. Why is he dead?"
"He was aiming for you," Julia said. "You had just come out to the bar when I saw him. I removed the threat as quickly as possible. I disengaged the tasers so he wouldn't use them."
"If it's worth anything, Mao, I saw the same thing."
Mao looked to Spike. Spike had been Mao's recruit, five years ago, when Spike had graduated from Martian punk to small-time drug and fence operator to computer criminal. He'd been in for two years when he was recruited by the ISSP. He'd started working with Vicious three months later. Mao trusted Spike, and even if he couldn't he knew he could read the boy. Mao decided to investigate in case Spike was covering. "I'll take it from here," he said.
"Better look out, Mao. Looks like Vicious has his own faction," Julia said breezily.
Mao straightened as his face clouded. "You better hope these tactics of yours don't get you in trouble, Julia. Don't let Vicious rub off on you. He has immunity. You do not."
"Never said he gave his faction the go-ahead."
"You know a lot about Vicious in a short time, do you? I know Vicious too. I know he doesn't trust anyone. And I know he would betray anyone for his own good."
The line of Julia's mouth went soft. She didn't answer.
"You should go back to your seats. The fight's starting soon," Mao said. He looked tired.
Julia glided off into the crowd. She thought of how Vicious wouldn't have gone back for Spike and wondered if he'd go back for her. Maybe he was a coward. You could never tell these things about people. Some of the intelligence unit were already filtering up the stairs, which had been roped off. The crowd had congealed from the lost space, and still had an afterglow of hysteria. Julia managed to squeeze through the empty bits between people expertly. Spike pushed them away and angled for the wall, pulling Julia with him. She looked up at him questioningly. When he reached the door, he pushed Julia through the opening and followed her into the room. It was lit by a blue glow from the computer switchboard for the stadium. It was big enough to for three engineers in tight quarters.
"What was that?" Spike demanded.
"Throwing Mao off my trail. If he thinks I'm siding with Vicious to overthrow him, he's not thinking I'm an ISSP spy."
"And what about me? Mao trusts me. I like him."
"So?" Julia said. "Listen. Both you and Vicious are aimed at the dissolution of the Syndicates, in one way or another. It can be done by both sides. If we do it your way, people like Mao go to jail. If we do it Vicious's way, people like Mao will die. So we have to do it a new way."
"Has Vicious said anything about killing Mao?"
"No," Julia replied. "But does a king say anything about the knights he considers expendable?"
"Christ, I need a cigarette," Spike said, running his hand through his hair.
Julia took out both a pack and a light. She'd apparently taken both when rifling through his pocket. She stuck a cigarette in his mouth, lit it, deposited the contents in his pocket, and left Spike in the blue glow of the technical room. Neither ever noticed the bird that sat in a crevice between the equipment and the wall.
Spike smoked three cigarettes before going to his seat. Mao hadn't returned to his seat, and neither Julia nor Vicious looked at him as he entered. He sat beside them and looked out onto the white sand on the arena.
Shin and Lin were sitting in the front row on the other end of the stadium. Below them was their recruit, the boyish, pretty Corso. Ayumo, dark and heavy, waited for the bell on the other side. When the bell sounded Corso leapt at Ayumu with a catlike contortion. If you were looking closely, which Spike's false eye could do, you could see a bored, disconnected look in Corso's face. He collapsed on Ayomo, knocking him over, and inserted his finger in the dark fighter's mouth. Before Ayumu could bit down on it, Corso had ripped his finger through Ayomo's cheek, splitting it into two flaps. He stood to kick Ayumo's head at an angle that would break his spine, but the other fighter recovered his wits and sprang up to counter Corso. The blond boy made some bored, lithe swipes and then hung back, arms suspended by his sides, his lips curling up. Ayumo leapt forward and lunged at Corso, who easily stepped aside. Ayumo spun and tried a series of wide punches that Corso literally brushed aside with a quick flick of his hands. This kid had it. He didn't need strength. There's always more strength on the defensive side. The offense has to change that strength, find its emptiness and use it to divide. Ayumo caught on that he was tiring himself out and hung back, blood coursing down his neck. He didn't seem to be the worse for it. Spike wondered at the lack of scars on Julia. A rock worn smooth by the rain. Corso squatted in what looked like the start of a leap. Ayumo flinched and Corse laughed, then raised himself upright again and stepped back. It was a psychological move. Ayumo immedietely stepped forward. Then Corso sprang forward. The two opposite propulsions made for a big crash, but Corso's had more energy. They slid over the sand into a wall. Before Ayumo could move, Corso stood back and kicked the soft part underneath the man's chin against the wall. It made a foot-sized dent towards the crown. Although from the front Ayumo looked asleep, his organs had been pulverized. A watery red solution ran out of his eyes. Corso face the crowd and raised his arms slowly. He had passed. He was a Red Dragon.
All right, this one, after a long slumber, is a doozy of a comeback. I got a bunch of the peripheral characters, except for Corso, who's my invention, and of course, loveable Ayumo. Enjoy, kids. And review or be damned to another long slumber.
Endgame 13
"Everybody ready for fight night?" Spike asked in a haze of muttering smoke. He was dressed up, for Spike, who never did completely relinquish his Martian gutterpunk look. He had on a black trenchcoat, a suit underneath, and a scarf. His right-hand glove had all the smoking fingers cut out, though. Vicious had a beige overcoat and a gray suit. Julia was still in her bathroom. For a moment, Spike wondered why they always ended up at Julia's, whether it was after a mission or before they went out. Then he growled, under his breath, "Women," while staring at the bathroom door.
"Yeah," Vicious drawled. He was walking a coin down his hand. "Aren't they wonderful?"
"You talking about me?" Julia said, leaning against the bathroom doorframe. "You better not be talking about me." Vicious smiled at her. She was wearing an indigo dress with a slit that ran high enough for him to be sure she'd foregone the underwear that night.
Spike whistled rudely and Julia flipped him off. Vicious pulled her coat from the rack and held it for her to slip on. She frowned a little, then slipped her arms into the waiting coat. Vicious let his arms rest around her for a moment and whispered into her ear, "You look good." She turned around and restrained the urge to kiss him. He cupped her chin in his hand and brushed his thumb across her lower lip. Julia closed her eyes, forgetting Spike momentarily, until he started to make gagging noises.
"Oh, that's it," she huffed. "We need to get him a woman."
"Yeah, and while we're at it we should get Vicious one too," he replied drily. Julia pinched him. "Ow," Spike complained.
"Jesus," Vicious said and opened the door. "Can we go before you start giving each other noogies?"
The fight was being held at the Ares Stadium. It consisted a coliseum surrounding a circular patch of white sand where the contestants always fought. The headliner fight was between Ayumo, an expert in hand-to-hand combat, and Corso, a recruit recommended by Shin and Lin, brothers who Spike and Vicious knew but Julia didn't. Julia felt a bit snubbed for not being invited to fight. After all, she'd started off in hand-to-hand combat and she had so little of it these days. But Vicious said the recruit deserved a fighting chance, which made her smile.
The opening act was a Liksa fight. A Liksa was a liquid technology with holographic artificial consciousness, that had originated in Mars. As soon as you cut it apart, you had two separate animals. The more you divided it, the more there were. It had happened so often that Liksa now ran on the streets as common as dogs. The only way to destroy it was to cut it into so many pieces that they no longer had enough intelligence to fight. The only way to have a finite fight between two Liksas was to get some really small strays and starve them of electricity, which was their nourishment and also their intelligence. If one of the technological beasts managed to siphon off enough of the other's energy, or absorb enough parts of the other, it would eventually grow bright enough to enclose it, become a sieve like form, and squeeze it into death by a thousand pieces.
Liksa fights bored Julia. Her eyes glazed almost immediately. It was such a predictable fight, so mathematical and boring. There was no soul to it. It took her a moment to notice Spike's hand waving in front of her face.
"Mars to Julia," he was saying.
She shook her head. "What? Did something interesting happen?" She looked over at Vicious, who was watching the Liksa intently.
"You looked hypnotized," he said.
"Yeah, by boredom," she replied.
"Liksa fights are for nerds," he agreed.
She gestured to Vicious. "How can he like this?" she whispered into his ear.
"He likes the inevitable domination of power," Spike whispered back. "Let's get a drink, huh?"
They disembarked from their place in the balcony. Julia nodded at Mao as she passed him. Vicious didn't even notice them leave.
Shin was standing by the bar and Spike changed his course through the crowd. Julia asked him under his breath what he wanted to drink and walked on once he told her. He stopped and appraised Shin. He was one of the young hotshots who refused to tuck in his clothes or conform to the superficial habits of Red Dragon men. It marked him as outside of the powerful circle, which was as good as often as it was not.
"Been a long time," Spike drawled, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. "How did the recruiting session go?"
"We only got one good one. You wouldn't guess it to look at him, but he's been heavily decorated after just one year in warfare." Shin gestured past him and Spike turned to see an overgrown boy with hair not unlike Julia's and lips so red he could mark their color from across the room. He was standing on a pedastle next to Ayumo, serenely staring forward.
"You can never tell by the body," Spike said.
"True enough." Shin pulled out his own cigarette and lit it. "So me and Lin take off for a couple months and you and Vicious go take down an empire?"
"It's Vicious's empire anyway," Spike replied.
"Don't let Mao hear you say that," Shin grinned. He tried to pull his hair behind one ear but it fell messily over his forehead. "You know he doesn't trust Vicious."
"You never did either," Spike said without meeting Shin's eyes.
"Would you want your kid brother idolizing someone like that?" Shin countered. "Vicious is alright, I just don't want Lin imitating his tactics. It's bound to get him killed."
Spike nodded. "I didn't have anything to do with killing Vicious's father anyway. That was Julia."
Shin whistled and turned around to see where Julia had gone. "Yeah, Julia. Only woman who can make you fall in love with her by kicking your ass."
"Yeah, you'd know," Spike said, wondering how badly Shin had been beaten by her when they'd fought. He saw the gold spill of hair in the crowd marking her return. She handed Spike a drink and fixed her eyes somewhere past him, sipping her drink and ignoring Shin.
"Julia, you remember Shin-"
"It's always red," she muttered.
Spike turned to see where she was looking. The twin glint of red glass showed a pair of eye-tasers somewhere on the second level. They would shoot an invisible laser through wherever the eyes focused.
"They're aimed at the recruit," she said.
Shin had caught the eye-taser's by now as well. "What should we do?"
"I'll go to the second floor," Julia said. "It's near the bathrooom, so it won't be strange." Spike felt the slightest movement in his jacket pocket as Julia reached inside I for his lighter. He thought she wouldn't make a bad pickpocket, as he had once been. Julia turned to him. "I'll light this three times when I've got him in sight."
"Then we both shoot," Spike finished, and she nodded with a slight smile quirking her lips.
"A regular mind reader," she said, and disappeared into the crowd.
Spike turned to Shin. "Tell me when she reaches the second floor," he instructed. "It'll look more natural for you to be looking up there."
Lin agreed and took a drag from his cigarette. "Is it true what they say?"
"I don't know. What do they say?"
"They say she's Vicious's woman."
Spike didn't answer, but it was enough for Shin.
"She's got the right eyes for it," Shin said. "Cold as steel." After a moment he said, "She's there," and Spike turned to look. The light came. Once, twice, a third, and he drew his gun, firing a shot at the perfect angle. Another shot came from the second level, and he knew Julia was making sure the would-be assassin was dead. The crowd became a tumult, and he heard a few shrieks coming from the women that had been invited.
"Get Mao," Spike said, and ran against the flow of the crowd to the second floor. By the time he wrestled his way to the top the level was nearly empty. Julia was standing over the assassin, her back turned to him. She had a drink in one hand and a gun in the other. As Spike drew closer he noticed a disabling shot had disengaged the eye-taser.
"He was one of us," Julia said, and Spike noticed the uniform.
"Why'd you give me the signal to shoot, then? He should have been questioned."
"Because when he saw me he said I was next. He said he knew, and then I gave the signal to shoot."
"He knew?"
"Yes," she said, and turned to Spike. Her face was resolute. "He's an intelligence man. Might be he's not the only one who knows, and I'm not the only one he knows about. I'm going to tell Vicious tonight. I won't tell him about you but he might know soon. You should be ready."
"Who the hell are you to make a decision like that?"
"I'm free."
She started to walk past Spike and he grabbed her arm. "You're a lot of things Julia, but you're sure as hell not free. You think Vicious is going to let you do as you please? Did you think you two would just run off together and live happily ever after?"
"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I was thinking just that."
"You two always seem to be in the middle of these sorts of things," Mao said from behind them.
Julia turned to him. "You should be thankful. No one else seems to notice when the guy next to them is trying to assassinate somebody."
"And who was he trying to assassinate?" Mao asked.
Julia pointed to Corso downstairs, who remained oblivious to the circumstances. "That boy."
Mao bent to the crumpled figure and took off the ruined eye-tazer goggles. "And how should we know?" he asked, "With these broken and unable to provide a recording of this man's sight. He was one of ours. Why is he dead?"
"He was aiming for you," Julia said. "You had just come out to the bar when I saw him. I removed the threat as quickly as possible. I disengaged the tasers so he wouldn't use them."
"If it's worth anything, Mao, I saw the same thing."
Mao looked to Spike. Spike had been Mao's recruit, five years ago, when Spike had graduated from Martian punk to small-time drug and fence operator to computer criminal. He'd been in for two years when he was recruited by the ISSP. He'd started working with Vicious three months later. Mao trusted Spike, and even if he couldn't he knew he could read the boy. Mao decided to investigate in case Spike was covering. "I'll take it from here," he said.
"Better look out, Mao. Looks like Vicious has his own faction," Julia said breezily.
Mao straightened as his face clouded. "You better hope these tactics of yours don't get you in trouble, Julia. Don't let Vicious rub off on you. He has immunity. You do not."
"Never said he gave his faction the go-ahead."
"You know a lot about Vicious in a short time, do you? I know Vicious too. I know he doesn't trust anyone. And I know he would betray anyone for his own good."
The line of Julia's mouth went soft. She didn't answer.
"You should go back to your seats. The fight's starting soon," Mao said. He looked tired.
Julia glided off into the crowd. She thought of how Vicious wouldn't have gone back for Spike and wondered if he'd go back for her. Maybe he was a coward. You could never tell these things about people. Some of the intelligence unit were already filtering up the stairs, which had been roped off. The crowd had congealed from the lost space, and still had an afterglow of hysteria. Julia managed to squeeze through the empty bits between people expertly. Spike pushed them away and angled for the wall, pulling Julia with him. She looked up at him questioningly. When he reached the door, he pushed Julia through the opening and followed her into the room. It was lit by a blue glow from the computer switchboard for the stadium. It was big enough to for three engineers in tight quarters.
"What was that?" Spike demanded.
"Throwing Mao off my trail. If he thinks I'm siding with Vicious to overthrow him, he's not thinking I'm an ISSP spy."
"And what about me? Mao trusts me. I like him."
"So?" Julia said. "Listen. Both you and Vicious are aimed at the dissolution of the Syndicates, in one way or another. It can be done by both sides. If we do it your way, people like Mao go to jail. If we do it Vicious's way, people like Mao will die. So we have to do it a new way."
"Has Vicious said anything about killing Mao?"
"No," Julia replied. "But does a king say anything about the knights he considers expendable?"
"Christ, I need a cigarette," Spike said, running his hand through his hair.
Julia took out both a pack and a light. She'd apparently taken both when rifling through his pocket. She stuck a cigarette in his mouth, lit it, deposited the contents in his pocket, and left Spike in the blue glow of the technical room. Neither ever noticed the bird that sat in a crevice between the equipment and the wall.
Spike smoked three cigarettes before going to his seat. Mao hadn't returned to his seat, and neither Julia nor Vicious looked at him as he entered. He sat beside them and looked out onto the white sand on the arena.
Shin and Lin were sitting in the front row on the other end of the stadium. Below them was their recruit, the boyish, pretty Corso. Ayumo, dark and heavy, waited for the bell on the other side. When the bell sounded Corso leapt at Ayumu with a catlike contortion. If you were looking closely, which Spike's false eye could do, you could see a bored, disconnected look in Corso's face. He collapsed on Ayomo, knocking him over, and inserted his finger in the dark fighter's mouth. Before Ayumu could bit down on it, Corso had ripped his finger through Ayomo's cheek, splitting it into two flaps. He stood to kick Ayumo's head at an angle that would break his spine, but the other fighter recovered his wits and sprang up to counter Corso. The blond boy made some bored, lithe swipes and then hung back, arms suspended by his sides, his lips curling up. Ayumo leapt forward and lunged at Corso, who easily stepped aside. Ayumo spun and tried a series of wide punches that Corso literally brushed aside with a quick flick of his hands. This kid had it. He didn't need strength. There's always more strength on the defensive side. The offense has to change that strength, find its emptiness and use it to divide. Ayumo caught on that he was tiring himself out and hung back, blood coursing down his neck. He didn't seem to be the worse for it. Spike wondered at the lack of scars on Julia. A rock worn smooth by the rain. Corso squatted in what looked like the start of a leap. Ayumo flinched and Corse laughed, then raised himself upright again and stepped back. It was a psychological move. Ayumo immedietely stepped forward. Then Corso sprang forward. The two opposite propulsions made for a big crash, but Corso's had more energy. They slid over the sand into a wall. Before Ayumo could move, Corso stood back and kicked the soft part underneath the man's chin against the wall. It made a foot-sized dent towards the crown. Although from the front Ayumo looked asleep, his organs had been pulverized. A watery red solution ran out of his eyes. Corso face the crowd and raised his arms slowly. He had passed. He was a Red Dragon.